Obama names Howard Schmidt, as cyber security coordinator
22 Dec 2009
US president Barack Obama has named former Bush administration adviser Howard Schmidt to serve as national cybersecurity coordinator, The Washington Post reported yesterday.
Schmidt is president of the Information Security Forum, a non-profit consortium comprising 300 large corporations and public-sector organisations that work on cybersecurity related issues.
Schmidt served as a cyber-adviser in president George W Bush's administration. He will be based in the National Security Council and will report to the national security adviser to coordinate federal government cybersecurity policy for both military and civilian agencies, the report says.
Schmidt is a veteran of the US Air Force and FBI and served as chief security officer at Microsoft. He has also served as chief security officer at eBay, according to the report.
The decision to appoint Schmidt, is said to have come as a compromise between factions.
According to government officials and industry executives, a behind-the-scenes dispute raged among government officials and industry executives over whether strict new regulations were warranted for ensuring the security of computer networks that link the vast majority of the world's computers.
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